Is it only me or do others think that the big election last fall has left us with nothing more than the same old, same old. I expect more from a kindergarten class than I do from our senators and representatives. How sad and pathetic is that?

I just realized how long it had been since I posted. Sorry about that. But I have a bird with a bum leg and I’ve spent most of the past few days hand feeding her since she can’t hold the food with one foot while standing on the other. Today we go to the vet. Wish us luck!

I keep telling them this is a false spring and they should stop budding but they won’t. They are going to be so disappointed when it snows again. And it will. It will snow just enough to make our real spring another bloody horror of wet mud breakup and icy driveways because going through that once a year is just not enough.

I was more than a little surprised at the reaction to last week’s column citing the survey showing Alaska to be the most violent state in the union. The most amazing reaction came from the person who claimed it was a liberal survey meant to pave the way for taking our guns. Considering guns were not even mentioned in the piece, I’m not sure where that came from. Also, the survey was done by the FBI, not a group known for being a bastion of liberal thought.

Then there were the people who claimed that no survey probably ever existed since I didn’t quote extensively from it. They apparently are unable to find the referenced survey, so let me do it for them. According to the statistics published by the FBI, Alaska has a rate of 602.6 incidents of violent crime per 100,000 people. Some readers claimed we’re number one only because we have such a small population. They apparently feel that the number looms much larger than it would in a bigger population. But given it was based on a “per 100,000” basis, the statistic holds up. Chicago may have more murders but with their higher population, it works out to a lower number per 100,000. And if you can’t understand that math or those statistics, you should go back to your high school and demand a refund on your diploma.
Perhaps most disturbing were the people who simply denied that Alaska was a violent place because they felt safe here. I’m sure they do. So do I for the most part. And this is probably why another survey found us number one in residents feeling fulfilled and good about themselves. One does not preclude the other. But we need to remember that these statistics on violence were not conjured out of thin air. They are based on crime statistics and are real. Theses crimes are happening to other Alaskans if not to you. And that should concern us because diminishing the quality of life for even one Alaskan diminishes it for us all. We can either do something about it before it reaches our homes or suffer the consequences.
Another survey (ADN 2/20/15) recently released and done in-state shows that over fifty percent of women in the Nome, Bristol Bay, Anchorage, Y-K Delta and Juneau census areas have suffered physical or sexual abuse or both at the hands of their intimate partner. This statistic simply backs up other surveys that consistently put Alaska at the top of the charts for domestic violence and sexual abuse. We seem to have grown so numb to this problem that the statistics don’t even faze us anymore. But think about this for a minute. In 2010, a survey was released that showed that 59 out of every 100 women in Alaska have experienced some level of violence from their intimate partner. All those people who object to Alaska’s violent reputation should probably get their heads out of the sand and look around because they know a woman who has experienced physical and/or sexual violence.
So what’s the answer to Alaska’s violence problem? It’s been studied to death. Every survey done shows us leading in all the worse statistics. Even more disheartening, we have maintained our position at the top or near the top of these statistics for decades. What has to change to make our state safer for everyone, including the most vulnerable? Given the responses to last week’s column, I’d say the first step might be convincing people these statistics are real and happening in a home very near to where they live. Because the statistical violence making us number one is less about drug deals gone bad and drunken driving that leads to massive injuries and death and more about a husband punching his wife in the privacy of their own home. It has more to do with one partner forcing himself on another partner and creating both pain, violence and fear around the very act that should bind them most intimately.
Alaska is a great state. This is why we should be so angry that these crimes are repeated over and over and over again in every neighborhood at every income level. We need to aspire to be as great as the state in which we live. And that means doing something about the violence so ubiquitous here. Step one is acknowledging it.

After watching the fashions at the Oscars I have to again say that bared breasts smashed down and taped into gowns that are slit to the naval will just never do it for me. Though, to be very honest, that style beats hell out of the stupid dresses that have one part that stops at the knee and then some gauzy material that goes to the floor covering it. That style always reminds me of dressing up as a child with my clothes underneath some old slip my mother let me play with. I looked stupid then and they look stupid now.

Some people are smart enough to head to the cooler and sunnier climate of Florida. As for that handsome young man… he’s eligible, makes a good living and has a kind and gentle soul. Only women who truly appreciate nice men need apply… and I will be screening the applicants.
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One of these pictures is the view from my sister’s house in New Jersey.
The other is the view from my house in Anchorage, Alaska.
Guess which one is which…
Hint… hers has a frozen bay in the background.
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I’ve had my first robo call from a politician running for mayor here in Anchorage. Oh sweet Jesus… it seemed like such a short break from the last election cycle in the fall until today. And now it’s over. The peace has been shattered. The calm of my world is gone. I will not be answering my phone until after April.

Please go to http://www.gofundme.com/BirdTLC and help us raise the money we need for our very own anesthesia machine to help these amazing creatures go back to flying free and wild. Every little bit helps. And honest, if you donate, I’ll send out a message worldwide to every bird I know to not crap on your car for at least a year!
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Did you see the survey that was in the paper a few weeks ago? It showed that Alaska was the most violent of the 50 states. Once again, we’re number one. It’s rather sad that we manage to come in second for annual Spam consumption but first for violence.

This survey made headlines in the paper immediately after its release. And almost as immediately, the news and discussion you’d think it would produce was muted into non-existence. Maybe Alaskans are just too tired of the discussion. Maybe the Super Bowl was more important. Maybe we’ve just come to accept violence as SOP on the Last Frontier. Want to live the free life? Want the wilderness experience? Well then, be prepared to die for it… and not from an avalanche or bear attack. Chances are someone will off you right in your home to save you the inconvenience of actually having to go outside in the cold for the experience.
On just one day in January, the Alaska section of this paper contained the following items: there was an arrest in one of the January Anchorage homicides; troopers were investigating a death in Unalakleet; a Kotzebue resident died in a house fire; a man wanted on an attempted murder charge was arrested; and a Fairbanks man was charged in a fatal rollover accident. On Valentine’s Day, a Wasilla man was found guilty of murder; another man was sentenced to 65 years ion jail for a fatal stabbing; a killer’s conviction was upheld; and a man pled guilty to setting another man on fire. Happy Valentine’s Day!
So how does the fact that we are the most dangerous state in America not warrant more than a one day headline? Where’s the outrage? Where’s the demand for action, any action, that will knock us off this unfortunately pedestal? Sadly, the victims of the violence are usually homeless people, the mentally ill, women and children. And often the crime itself is happening beyond the vision of the majority of middle class Alaskans. Headlines on violent crime comes from the villages or sections of Anchorage that would be considered… well, let’s just say, not middle class. So long as it happens to ‘them” and “they” don’t live where we do, we don’t need to worry.
Far too many of us act as though we exist in a different world from the violence we see reported in the paper everyday. We think the walls of our homes protect us from what is happening far from them. But every time an Alaskan goes to the store or the mall or the movie, they are exposing themselves to potential violence. As for the people who routinely exist side by side with the violence because they have nowhere else to go, they know all too well how simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time can end your life with a bang.
But above and beyond any personal encounters with the daily violence that has become far too routine in this state is the fact that as Alaskans we should be horrified that our state has earned such a dubious distinction. As Alaskans we should be mortified by the fact that we lead the nation in some of the worse statistics possible. Alaska has apparently risen to the top of all categories that start or end with the words abuse, assault and violence.
I came to Alaska over forty years ago from Brooklyn, NY. It was a time when New York City seemed on the verge of imploding from poverty and crime. It was a time when the federal government was basically extending a middle finger to the city in its hour of need. I thought coming to Alaska would put distance between the violence of the big city and me. Now, it feels as though New York is the safer place despite its size and diversity and Alaska has become the place to fear for your life.
We have to work to not get jaded from the almost monotonous repetition of these horrible statistics. We should never grow complacent and just accept that this is a violent place for some but not for all. We need to care that some Alaskans are not safe in their own homes, even if those homes are far from where we live. We need to fix what’s broken or the future will be very bleak for everyone.

As much as I’m enjoying the photos from my childhood home of the bay across from my sister’s house actually iced over, this would be a lot more fun if Anchorage was actually having anything that even resembled a winter happening and if the Iditarod hadn’t been moved to Fairbanks because of lack of snow here.
This is all so wrong… and yet I laugh when I think that it’s so cold back east that even my sister won’t walk. I believe if you look in the Bible, that’s one of the signs of the Apocalypse.
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It’s just wrong to be sitting in my office in the middle of February listening to the snow melt and drip off my roof and deck. Snow come back! All is forgiven! Boston doesn’t love you half as much as we do. So whatever we did to drive you away, we’re so, so sorry.

This is the view of the bay across from my sister’s house on Absecon Island… that’s the island Atlantic City is on. If you look closely, you can see the ice of the frozen bay in the distance. Maybe they could start the Iditarod from there.
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Aunt Judy not only lets you ride her inside bike but she also lets you wear her “Watching Miss America” crown so you can practice for the day you ARE Miss America. The look on Bella’s face tells you there is pretty much nowhere else she’d rather be..
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It takes a special person to move from New York City to the Arctic. My family says it takes someone for whom they should always have updated commitment papers ready. But my 30 years in Barrow, Alaska were great. Read my book, Parallel Logic, to find out just how funny they were. Or check out my latest book, Coming Into the City, about the realities of adjusting to life in a town with a Costco. They can be ordered online at www.alaskabooksandcalendars.com.

Now I live a mundane life in Anchorage where I operate a very small, unusually non-profit making company, Precious Cargo, Ltd. I also write a weekly column for the Anchorage Daily News.

I'm a writer for hire. Having worked for politicians, I have no standards I will not stoop below if you pay me to write for you.
Enjoy my site. And keep laughing. It beats hell out of the alternative. See my bio...